Optical Prism September 2013 | Page 30

Alternative med by Pippa Wysong N Topical NSAIDs not needed for uncomplicated cataract surgery: Eye care professionals should ask patients about use of alternative medicines onsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) may be overused in cataract patients, and not enough eyecare specialists ask patients about their use of alternative medicines. These are findings from two studies presented at the recent annual meeting of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. The NSAIDs ketorolac and nepafenac are commonly used in patients who have undergone cataract surgery as a prophylactic measure to prevent macular edema, said David Almeida, MD, an Ophthalmology Resident at Queen’s University. But it turns out they should probably be reserved for patients who experience some sort of complication from their surgery or who have risk factors for macular edema. Dr. Almeida noted that it hasn’t been understood how much topical 26 OPTICAL PRISM | SEPTEMBER 2013